Nott Amused
by alwaysxsaidsnape
Summary: Hermione Granger finds herself working with Theodore Nott in Ancient Runes and decides that he doesn't know what he's doing so she'll do the work all by herself. He shows that she's not always right.


Again I know that everyone is waiting for more _Lost Boy _and it's coming.  
Till then have a bit of Theomione, my second favorite ship to Romione.

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Ancient Runes was one of those subjects that you had to have some sort of thinking that was constrained and yet able to wrap around the concepts that were outside the normal parameters. Hermione Granger found this subject one that was difficult, but fulfilling because it was something that pushed her passed her normal thought process. It was easy for her to assume that everyone else didn't think the way that she did, but in Ancient Runes she had to think so unlike herself and it helped her get out of her head. It was soothing, a change of pace for her usually over analytical mind.

Her quill scratched into the parchment before her with conviction as she looked to the chalkboard making sure to copy the instructions correctly for the assignment that would take up the rest of their class time today. Tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth Hermione looked from the parchment up to the board as she scribbled even faster. But even as she watched the white words on the green board they started to fade, she scribbled faster nearly whimpering as she was sure that she would not finish before the words disappeared altogether. But just as the last word faded from view she looked down to see the notes she'd been copying, four different sets she would use to see if she missed something in the previous one. Hermione nodded curtly to herself before setting to work with reading one than the other taking yet another set of notes as she did.

A couple of rows back from her sat Theodore Nott with his head resting on his arms, not sleeping but merely ignoring everything around him as it was his greatest ability. One of his hands holding his quill and tapping it against the desk as he waited for them to be split off into groups; he hated working with other people. Even Blaise, who was sitting next to him and gently prying his perfectly crafted notes from under Theo's arm so that he could copy them down, was not someone he looked forward to working with. Theodore allowed him to take the notes even as he remained where he was, still tapping his quill against the desktop.

"Miss Granger, you will be paired with Theodore Nott. Chop, chop," their professor said as she clapped her hands and continued down the list of student names.

Theodore felt his stomach fall a few inches in his abdomen because the thought of having to work with someone he didn't usually associate with was bothersome, but working with Hermione Granger was a bit unsettling. Mostly because most anyone that was forced to work with her came out of it feeling like they were stupider than they had been going into the assignment. But he knew for a fact that he had better grades in this class than she did. How? He observed everything and maybe he observed her more than anything else. There was something about her that caught his attention more often than it should especially considering that Theodore Nott could not be bothered to care for much of anything.

When she swiveled in her seat to look up at him with her slightly annoyed glare because he was not already moving to sit beside her Theodore shrunk back slightly, but made it look like a slump of defeat more than a fearful thing. Blaise spared Theodore a slightly pitying look, something no one but Blaise could do with such an air of arrogance. Theodore wondered why he was friends with this git at all, but he merely stood up swiping his notes from Blaise even as the boy continued to copy them. That once pitying look became a seething one in an instant, that mask so easily changing that Theodore hardly ever could keep up with Blaise's many mood swings. Not that he currently cared because he hoped that the other male would suffer for that pitying look he'd given him.

Hermione had pulled out the seat next to her, but pushed it over a few more inches so that there would be plenty of space between them as she started in on the assignment before Theodore even managed to take his seat. The Slytherin boy had placed his notes down on the combined desk, but instantly removed them the moment that Hermione turned her head to glare at him.

"My notes will suffice," Hermione quipped before returning back to the assignment that she was nearly half way done with.

"You have four different versions, I only have the one."

"The more the merrier, just makes sure I didn't miss anything."

"I never miss anything; I get it all the first time."

"I get it all the first time too, you – " Hermione pursed her lips together to keep from calling him a foul name. Too much time with Ron made her ready to use foul language; she would have to remember to tell him to stop using such language lest she start making a habit of using it herself. "I just find that numerous copies make sure that everything is given its due."

Theodore rolled his eyes before thinking about it and merely looked over to her work as her quill continued across the sheet of parchment. Taking in the problem they were supposed to be deciphering and he merely kept quiet the entire time, something he was very good at. But she was working so furiously that he knew she was going to do something wrong, apparently she hated when people watched her work and Hermione was so used to being left alone in a group that when someone did pay mind she felt like they were doing it to be annoying. How was it that this boy she had never spoken more than a dozen words to managed to get under her skin by just doing the work he was supposed to be doing? Merlin, help her.

At least he was quiet, she was able to work without interruption for the most part until she heard him clear his throat and he started to tap his quill on the desktop. It was grating, she glared at the tip of his quill out of the corner of her eyes before she reached over and pressed it down to keep him from tapping it.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to work."

"Do you? I'm trying to help, but you're not being very open to it."

"I don't need you to help me."

"You do, I think."

"Well, you're wrong and _that _is why I don't need your help. I don't need you messing up my perfect grade in this class just for your own entertainment. Now stop it."

Was she serious? He wondered how such a smart girl could miss so much because she was not paying attention, but he merely shook his head at her. It wasn't like he was going to argue with her, he merely released his quill and pulled his hands back into his lap so she would go back to work. His brown eyes were studying the parchment as she worked and he could spot two very obvious mistakes in the deciphering of the runes, but by the way she surveyed her own work he knew that she could not see them herself. Sometimes he wondered if her mind was open enough for some of these things, he was an analytical person same as she was but he saw things from twenty different angles at once so to make sure not to miss anything.

For a moment, he looked to her face as it was twisted in thought as she scanned her work and the way her tongue stuck out from the corner of her mouth in thought made him smile to himself. Clearing his throat he looked away from her because he shouldn't find that endearing because she was completely insufferable. It was not endearing how she stuck her tongue out or managed to get a smudge of ink on her chin when she forgot her thumb had brushed one of the still wet runes and ran that same thumb over her chin in thought. Damn it, what was he thinking? Theodore sighed to himself, leaning back in his seat so that his chair was on two legs and he rocked back and forth in this precarious position.

"And it's done. I'm going to get the rest of it from the Professor. Try not to fall over and kill yourself while I'm gone. Would you?"

Hermione looked over to him, squinting slightly as she watched him rock on the hind legs of his seat only to get up from her seat and make her way over to the professors desk. Theodore took the moment she was gone to set his seat back down and pull the parchment with her work on it over to him before dipping her quill into the ink well. Not even bothering to look at where she was, he started to correct the runes she had deciphered incorrectly and rewrite the rest of it so that it wasn't so blatantly incorrect. Theodore set her quill down as Hermione rushed back over to their desk, her nose practically pressed to the bit of parchment that the Professor had given to her. He could see by how wide they were that she was reading the paper in disbelief; perhaps because she figured out that she had been wrong.

Once again, he was leaning back on the hind legs of his chair and rocking slightly when she took her seat and grabbed her work. She was furiously looking from one then the other as if sure she would find that the Professor was wrong and she had been right, but slowly realization took over her features and she turned away from her work to look at Theodore. Still leaning there as if he had not a care in the world with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed, he looked like he didn't have a care in the world. Hermione took in his appearance in silence and realized that he was not half bad looking, there was a softness to his features that made him handsome and cute at the same time. Thick lashes stitched together as he kept his eyes closed and some of his dark hair falling over his forehead, she felt her fingers itch with the desire to push it back but she ignored it.

Clearing her throat loudly, she huffed when he didn't stir till she kicked one of the legs of his chair causing Theodore to sway dangerously for a second before setting his chair back down. One of his eyes opened, the brown of which could have been the same as honey one instant but was dark again like milk chocolate, and settled on her before he quirked his brow.

"What?"

"Did you touch my work?" She demanded.

"No."

"Don't lie, I know you did. These were not the answers I put down."

"I know, they're the ones I put down."

"Then you _did_ touch my work."

"I touched _our_ work and made sure we got a perfect score. I don't need you messing up _my perfect grade_," Theodore mimicked her earlier statement before shrugging his shoulders. "What does it matter? I fixed it."

Hermione felt color rush into her cheeks because someone had corrected her work, her ears were nearly pink by this point and she did everything she could to hide behind her hair. It was annoying, how had he even known that she was incorrect? Was Theodore Nott smarter than he looked? Merlin, it was bad enough that he was a Slytherin and apparently good looking, but he also had to be smart enough to correct her. It didn't happen often, it just didn't and now here she was staring at her corrected paper and debating on whether she could legitimately be mad or not.

It wasn't right for her to be angry at Theodore because he had never been mean to her and as far as she knew he didn't really associate with Draco Malfoy. So she took a deep breath before shifting in her seat and scooting it closer to his, forcing herself to ignore the fact that he looked a bit confused now that she was closer to him and he backed up a bit.

"So since you apparently know what you're doing, work on the rest of this with me," she muttered under her breath.

"The great and intelligent Hermione Granger is going to let a mere mortal help her?" Theodore teased and laughed when her pinks became bright pink. "I'm flattered."

"You should be. Hmph," she barely managed without allowing her voice to crack.

"Oh, I am. You've no idea, Hermione."

Not Granger, not mudblood, but Hermione. She was at a loss for what to say, her lips parted but she said nothing and merely went to work. Maybe Theodore Nott was not that bad, maybe he was the exception to the assumed rule that all Slytherins were the same.


End file.
